Karl Robinson relieved Salford are safe despite defeat to Bradford

Posted Sunday, April 14, 2024 by PA

Karl Robinson was relieved that Salford have secured League Two safety despite a fourth consecutive defeat.

Bradford came from behind to win 2-1 at the Peninsula Stadium as goals from Calum Kavanagh and Brad Halliday wiped out Callum Hendry’s opener for the Ammies.

But Sutton’s draw at Harrogate meant that the home side are clear of the threat of relegation.

Salford manager Robinson said: “I’m relieved now we are mathematically safe. The objective was first and foremost to do that.

“I’m not disappointed, I’m not frustrated. I expected some of the things that I have seen.

“The clarity that these games have started to bring is very evident. We have secured our status for next season and now it’s about putting our foot down and being a much better organisation and group moving forward.

“There has been an inconsistency about a lot of our performances, the lack of clean sheets, lack of winning duels and not creating and taking chances.

“For me, it’s something that falls on the toes of us now in the summer. We can’t moan about this next season if we don’t do something about it now.

“The players are generally good lads and I respect them all. But I think we’re a little bit below what we expect.

“The league table never lies. We are where we are and there’s no dodging around that. We rode our luck today, even in the first half we could have been three or four down. It’s not the type of team I want to watch every week.”

Hendry’s half-volley was cancelled out right on half-time by Kavanagh’s close-range finish from Richie Smallwood’s free-kick.

Bradford missed plenty of chances before Halliday struck after 86 minutes to clinch their third win in four.

Manager Graham Alexander, formerly of Salford, said: “I was devastated for the boys when we went 1-0 down. But we’ve talked about how we respond to getting a punch on the nose.

“We were the team in the ascendancy and I thought the response was instant. We went on the front foot again.

“We scored the equaliser and my notes for half-time didn’t change. It was about the quality we had and just having a little tactical tweak on the defensive side to manage their threats.

“We did that second half and just had to keep plugging away. We had numerous chances, in the second half especially, but Brad’s come up with the goods with an unbelievable finish.

“There were a lot of balls pumped into our box and they’ve got massive threats. But I think we stood up to that really well.

“It was a quality all-round performance but we have to improve in our consistency. If we want to be in that top area, we can’t have such a yo-yo experience.”